Berakhot 096

Today's shiur is dedicated by Stephen Kuperberg and Debbie Feinstein in joyous celebration of their marriage, which took place yesterday! Mazzal Tov to Debbie and Stephen!

1:
Our mishnah seeks to determine optimal conditions for the recitation of the Amidah. We must always bear in mind that the recitation of the Amidah is the opportunity for each individual Jew to enter into direct communion with God. If we look upon the recitation of this part of the liturgy only as a text to be mechanically uttered we miss this aspect of the experience entirely. It would have been so easy for the sages who first formulated the framework of our prayers to make our reference to the Deity indirect: "Blessed be God" etc. However, with deliberate awareness, they formulated a direct reference: "Blessed are You" etc. (We shall discuss this in much greater detail in Chapter Six.) Thus, the very text of the berakhot forces one into a framework of direct communion. The problem is, however, that without energetic mental preconditioning, we cannot make ourselves aware of the awesomeness of the occasion. On those few occasions when we might have an opportunity to enter into direct discourse with some prominent human figure – a head of state or a head of government, for instance – the very circumstances make us aware of the auspicious nature of the event, and we set our frame of mind accordingly. However, on those (hopefully) many occasions when we enter into direct discourse with the Supremacy of all Supremacies in this and any other universe [Ribbon kol ha-olamim], the mundane and 'usual' surroundings do not assist us in creating the special frame of mind.

To be continued.

There are several items that people have sent me that are long overdue.

In Berakhot 093, in explaining a point in the mishnah is mentioned that one suggestion connects the Hebrew root with "anger" or "pregnancy" (both philologically possible!): "Let all their needs be before You even when You are angry with them like a pregnant woman"(!) David Kogut comments:

The linking of pregnancy, anger and danger strikes a chord. Until the advent of modern antisepsis, antibiotics and the ability to effectively stanch hemorrhaging, the mortality rate in childbirth approached 50 percent. It was common practice for a woman, on confirming she was pregnant, to make out a will. This also sets in a new context the morning berakhah 'shelo asani isha' (which I do not say). In this light, the Gemara is reflecting the experience of the times.

I respond:

I reserve judgment on David's last comment. This formulation of the berakhah is to be attributed to Rabbi David Abudrahm in the Middle Ages, and his Siddur explains why – and the reason he gives is certainly not as generous as the one David attributes!

I asked for your help in finding a reliable source for a 'bon mot' attributed to Albert Einstein. So far no one has been able to confirm (or deny), but I have received some beautiful parallel statements:

James Feldman:

Almost always, Willy said it best. No scientist worth his/her salt could do better than Miranda in The Tempest:

MIRANDA. O, wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! / O brave new world, / That has such people in 't! That Prospero, the old dog, replies: PROSPERO. Tis new to thee. Just shows that a bad attitude can ruin the best of shows.

Reuven Boxman:

I don't have a source. But I have heard it said that Einstein had a serious problem with quantum mechanics, which holds (through the Hiesenberg uncertainty principle) that physics cannot determine the outcome of a particular event, but only predict the probability of an event (in contrast to classical or Newtonian physics, which is deterministic). Supposedly Einstein dismissed the quantum view with the statement "the Good Lord doesn't shoot craps". [What a shame that Reuven had to use the word "supposedly" – SR] It would have been more consistent for a scientist and a believer if Einstein had blessed God as Aimée Yermish does, and had said what a beautiful world this if, and amazing that it could be built by rolling dice.

Ron Kaminsky (who has done my homework for me):

I didn't find Einstein quoted as such, but in this link Dr. "Fritz" Schaefer is the Graham Purdue Professor of Chemistry and the director of the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize and was recently cited as the third most quoted chemist in the world. "The significance and joy in my science comes in the occasional moments of discovering something new and saying to myself, 'So that's how God did it!' My goal is to understand a little corner of God's plan." – U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 23, 1991. In this link, Schaefer addresses the theological implications of Stephen Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" and finds himself largely in opposition to them. He seems to be a devout Christian, given the end of this document. The document seems to be interesting reading (after a brief perusal) with lots of quotes of famous scientists related to theology.